Consumer Marketing Psychology: The Good Reason vs. The Real Reason

Human beings, as intelligent and sophisticated as we like to think we are, are actually highly emotional creatures. Every decision we make is made for emotional reasons. Those are the real reasons. We then back-up those decisions with logical justifications — the “good reasons.”

If you think about it and you’re really honest, what’s truly driving our choices is our emotions.

And we aren’t just talking about buying decisions. We’re talking about every decision.

There was a Porsche ad a few years ago that captured the internal struggle between our emotions and logic with naked perfection:

We do things because we want to — plain and simple. We may talk ourselves into thinking it’s a smart decision, but ultimately, we let our emotions run our lives.

We don’t have to buy the more expensive option. We don’t have to upgrade. You don’t really need premium gas. Logically, there is no reason to spend $400 on athletic shoes (especially when you don’t do anything athletic). No one really needs a $85,000 car when they can get from A to Z perfectly fine in a $15,000 car.

Most Americans almost never choose the least-expensive option (think “generic brand”). Why do we do this?

Because we want to.

“I want, I want, I want.”

We fork over millions of dollars every day because we want to. Not because we need to. Not because we really think it’s smart. Because we just feel like it.

Is it rational? No.Does it make any sense? No.
Does it feel good? Yes.

“Just do it…”

Parents don’t take their kids to McDonald’s for rational reasons. It’s not because McDonald’s is nutritious. It’s not because it’s cheap. Not because “the kids just lovvve it.” Parents take their kids to McDonald’s because it’s easy…on them, the parents. Parents can trust McDonald’s to make their lives a little easier. That’s what makes McDonald’s “convenient,” not the fact that there’s one on every corner.

You’ll notice McDonald’s never runs ads saying they are “fast, affordable, convenient and consistent.” Why? Because McDonald’s is a smart marketer, and smart marketers know you can’t rationalize people into making their decisions.

Unless, of course, you’re willing to make the ultimate marketing rationalization: “We will always be the cheapest.”

The medical community has proven that we can not make “logical” decisions without emotional input. When injuries damage the area of the brain responsible for our emotions, people lose the ability to make logical decisions. It takes these people a long time to try to make the simplest of choices like — to wear their slippers or not.